Stephanie and Skulls (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Digital original

This indoor session with Stephanie focused on working with a sheep skull; she'd seen the earlier work I did with Ingrid and skulls, and wished to explore the possibilities.

Digital infrared original

As with her first session, we worked with natural light in my apartment, taking advantage of the soft directional quality of the light, and the unbroken wall. During a break between making more directed images, Stephanie let the skull hang by her side, and I immediately thought of a warrior holding the head of a vanquished foe - and made the above image.

Digital infrared original

My favourite image of the session was one of the last we made - Stephanie held the skull with horns against her, and I used a large aperture to throw her body out of focus - I really like the sharp detail on the skull contrasted against the gently out-of-focus quality of Stephanie's figure behind.